Propulsion means for boats



Oct. 8, 1957 I J. R. GRAHAM ,8

PROPULSION MEANS FOR BOATS Filed Feb. 16, 1954 INVENTOR. Jame-J /r?Graham BY f United States Patent PROPULSION MEANS FOR BOATS James R.Graham, Appleton City, Mo.

Application February 16, 1954, Serial No. 410,502

2 Claims. (Cl. 115-29) This invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in propulsion means for boats, and has for its principalobject the provision of a manually operable propelling means for smallboats which is quiet in operation and therefore adapted for use inpropelling boats in quiet fishing waters, and which requires very littleoperating space as compared to oars and is therefore adapted for use invery close quarters.

This object is accomplished by the use of a pair of blades pivoted on acommon, generally vertical axis and suitably supported on a boat to bedisposed in the water adjacent the boat, and to be oscillated generallyhorizontally in the line of movement of the boat, and having meanslimiting the pivotal movement of the blades whereby as said blades aremoved in the same direction as the boat they fold into positionssubstantially parallel to the direction of movement to move through thewater with minimum resistance, and whereby as said blades are movedoppositely to the direction of boat travel, they pivot outwardly topresent broad surfaces to the water, thereby impelling the boatforwardly.

Another object is the provision of the propulsion apparatus of the classdescribed which is adapted for use in steering the boat.

Other objects are simplicity and economy of structure, dependability andefiiciency of operation, and adjust ability to vary the manual effortrequired for operation.

With these objects in view, as well as other objects which will appearin the course of the specification, reference will be had to thedrawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the rearward portionof a boat showing a propelling mechanism embodying the present inventionin one position in solid lines, and at other positions in its operativemovement in dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the mechanism in solid lines in positionfor straight-ahead movement of the boat, and in dotted lines inpositions for altering the course thereof.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, foreshortened, fragmentary sectional view takenon line III-III of Fig. 2, with the blades folded together.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 3, showing theblades pivoted together in solid lines, and pivoted apart in dottedlines.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line VV of Fig. 3.

Like reference numerals apply to similar parts throughout the severalviews, and the numeral 2 applies to a boat having a stern board or panel4. The propelling mechanism is mounted on said stern board by means of abracket 6 having substantially the form of a C-clamp. The inner arm ofsaid clamp is provided with a pair of clamp screws 8, and rests againstthe inner surface of board 4. The outer arm 10 rests against the outersurface of board 4, and is provided adjacent its upper edge with a pairof horizontally spaced apart ears 12 between which extends a bolt 14. Anarm 16 is pivotally mounted at its forward end on said bolt, and extendsrearwardly or W3 from the boat. Said arm is provided at its forward endwith a downwardly angled extension 18 which normally rests against clamparm 10 .to support arm 16 in a substantially horizontal position, asshown.

At its outer end, arm 16 is provided with an orifice 20, the walls ofwhich are spherically curved to support a ball member 22 for universalpivotal movement therein. The arm is split diametrically of said orificeto permit insertion of the ball, the sections of said arm being securedtogether by. screws 24. The ball has a cylindrical bore 26 formeddiametrically therethrough, and a rod 28 extends slidably throughsaidbore, said rod being rendered universally pivotal by the movement ofball 22, and being axially rotatable either by turning within bore 26,or by turning the ball in its socket. The rod is normally supportedagainst downward movement by a stop collar 30 secured on the rod by setscrew 32, just above ball 22. V v

Above'collar 30, the rod is bent to form a generally horizontal handleportion 34 extending forwardly over the boat and providedatits forwardendwith a hand grip 36. w The propelling blades 38 and 40 are carried atthe lower end of rod 28, beneath the surface of the water in which theboat is disposed. Each of said blades is formed of flat stock and isgenerally rectangular in shape, being provided along one edge thereofwith a pair of spaced apart tubular bearing members, the bearings ofblade 38 being designated by the numeral 42, and the bearings of blade40 being designated by the numeral 44. These bearing members are mountedfor free oscillation on the lower end portion 46 of rod 28, which isreduced in diameter. They are pivotally movable from the position shownin solid lines in Fig. 4, in which they lie substantially together andextend rearwardly from rod 28, to the position shown in dotted lines,wherein they are pivoted apart and extend transversely in oppositedirections. The pivotal movement of the blades is limited by a pair ofstop collars 48 fixed on the reduced portion 46 of rod 23 by set screws50, said collars being disposed between the bearing portions 42 and 44of the blades and serving to hold the blades against longitudinalmovement on rod 46. Each collar is provided with three outwardlyextending lugs, lug 52 extending rearwardly in the vertical plane of thehandle 34, and lugs 54 and 56 extending transversely to lug 52, and insubstantially opposite directlons,

In operation, the boatman simply grasps hand grip 36 and moves itoscillatably up and down, as indicated by the dotted line positions inFig. 1, whereby the lower end of rod 28, and the blades carried thereby,are caused to oscillate forwardly and rearwardly in the water. As theblades move forwardly, the pressure of the water against the outersurfaces thereof pivots them together as shown in solid lines in Fig. 4.Lugs 52 prevent either blade from moving past this position to the otherside of the vertical plane of movement of rod 28. In this position theblades move through the water with very little resistance, andcxert onlya negligible rearward force on the boat. As the blades move rearwardlyin the water, water enters between the blades and pivots them apart tothe position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. Each blade is provided atits outer or free edge with an outwardly curved lip 58 to insure thatthe water will enter between the blades. In this position, the bladeshave a broad surface transverse to their direction of travel, and may bepushed rearwardly through the water only by exerting substantial forcethereon. The opposite reactive force is exerted on the boat through arm16, and propels the boat forwardly. By turning the handle 34horizontally, as for example to either of the dotted line positionsshown in Fig. 2,'or to any intermediate posi 3 tion, and thenoscillating said handle vertically as described, the vertical plane ofmovement of the blades is varied relative to the longitudinal midline ofthe boat. In this manner the boat may be steered as well as propelled.The depth to which the blades are submerged in the water may be adjustedby loosening set screw 32 of eollar 30, andsliding rod 28 vertically.This adjustment is also useful in adjusting the device for use on boatshaving varying amounts of freeboard. Also, since the adjustment variesthe leverage available to the boatman, it serves to adjust the manualforce required to operate the'device 'to the preference of individualusers. When desired, arm 16 may be pivoted upwardly and forwardly 011bolt 14 "to elevate the blades out of the. water. I While I have shownand described aspecifi c embodimerit of 'my invention, it is apparentthat many minor "chaiiges'of eonstruetiea and operation could be madewithout departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by thescope of the appended claims. For example, it is'appareh't that .byreversin the direction of handle 34, the device could be adapted to" bemounted at 'thepr'ow of the boat, rather than the stern, and that bysuitable similar modifications the blades could be made to operate atany position beneath or adjacent the boat.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is: p

1. Aboat propulsion device comprising a mounting nie'mher adapted to beliked to'a boat and including an 'arm projecting generally horizontallyfrom the boat, said arm having a spherically 'cu'rved' socket formedtherein adjacent its outer ehd, a ball member mounted in said socket foruniversal pivotal movement, said ball memher having a diametricalopening formed therethrough, a rod disposed for axial sliding movementin said opening, the lower end of said rod depending from said ball intothe water adjacent the boat and the upper end of said rod being providedwith an angular extension projecting generally horizontally over theboat to form a handle for manually oscillating said rod in a verticalplane, a pair of generally planar blades each pivotally attached alongone edge to the lower end portion of said rod, said blades beingpivotally movable from one position in which they overlie each othersubstantially in the vertical plane of said handle to another positionin which they extend transversely in opposite directions from saidplane, and stops carried by said rod and operable to limit the pivotalmovement of said blades positively.

2. The structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein said arm is pivoted tosaid mounting member for movement in a vertical plane, and stop meanslimiting the downward movement of said arm to a substantially horizontalposition.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS196,564 Curtis Oct. 30, 1877 259,957 White June 20, 1882 2,507,469Hanson May 9, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 239,964 Great Britain Sept. 24, 1925

